Young Again
by Owl-Named-Toast
Summary: Damon and Elena take a road trip to help a de-aged 2-year-old Stefan return to normal. Brotherly fluff ensues.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm sucker for kid fics and de-aged fics. This fic is set during early season 2.

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><p>"This can't be happening," Elena sighed as she paced through the Salvatore Boarding House. "This is crazy. Even for us. Damon, what happened?"<p>

"Hell should I know. I wake up. Downed a blood bag. Yelled for Stefan. No answer. Yelled again. No answer. I start heading up stairs and what I hear I can only describe to be as a small 'coo'."

"A coo?"

"Yes, a coo. And-"

"Then what happened?"

"Let me finish, Elena. I walk into Stefan's room only to find a small child where my 162-year-old brother should be."

Damon and Elena look over to the Stefan's bed. A small boy, a little under the age of 2, was halfway under the covers staring at a loose thread on the quilt.

"Are you sure that's Stefan?" asked Elena.

Stefan picked up his head to give Elena an intense look.

"See that. That is Stefan's forehead-brooding look. I'd recognize it anywhere," Damon said with a grin.

Stefan then turned his attention to Damon. Glaring daggers.

"You're only proving my point, Stef."

"Okay, okay. Let's focus. Is this a witch's doing? Or something else?" Elena asked as she started to pace again.

"Only way to find out is to consult a witch."

Elena took out her cell, "I'll call Bonnie-"

"No, I think the less people in Mystic Falls know about this, the better."

"Then what are we going to do? We can't leave him like this!"

"Calm it down, Elena. I know a witch a few states over. Road trip time. Pack your bags. We leave ASAP!"

Elena gave Damon a look and said, "We can't just leave now. Think of Stefan. He's practically an infant now. We can't just throw him in the car."

"You're right," Damon sighed, "You go pack, I'll duck tape two pillows to Stefan. Bubble wrap his feet and hands. Problem solved."

Elena gave a frustrated sigh, "Please at least attempt to take this seriously. What are we going to tell everyone about us leaving town?"

"You tell people you're taking a road trip with your boyfriend. Just don't tell them that he de-aged 160 years. We'll pose as a young couple on the road with their son. Alibi for here and for the road. You're onboard with this. Right, Stef?"

Damon makes a move towards the bed and hoist Stefan up into his arms along with a tangled blanket. "But you could use some clothes first."

"Alright, if we're going to be this, we have to work together. That means no fighting from the both of you."

"Do you think I'd stoop so low to argue with a 2-year-old Stefan?"

Stefan and Elena nodded their heads excessively. "Shut up!"

"If were going to pretend to be his parents, it has to be convincing. Damon, you have to be a loving, affectionate father. Stefan, you have act like an infant. You can't doing anything that seems too advance"

"So all you have to do is lay there and drool on yourself," jested Damon. Stefan shot him a look.

"Stay put and behave. I'll be back in a little bit with supplies. Along with some new clothes for Stefan. It's going to be a long trip." She gives Stefan a kiss on the cheek before heading out the door. A little smile forms on his face. The smile is then squashed by Damon peering down at the little Stefan in arms while snickering affectionately. Stefan turned red and buried his face into his brother's shoulder.

"So cute, Stef. Trying to hide." Damon continued to smile down at his brother. But he started to have some serious thoughts. "Hey Stef, I know you can understand Elena and I just fine but I haven't heard a peep from you. Can you still talk?"

Stefan lifted his head and stared at Damon. Looking him directly in the eyes, his mouth started to curve. Then, very quiet like whisper, came the sound, "day…"

"Day?" Damon replied.

Stefan tried again, "Day…..mmmmm."

"You can't form full words or sentences today? Maybe you're younger that 2?"

At this realization, Stefan's eyes started to well up. Unable to control his baby instincts, fat tears started roll down round baby cheeks. He tried looking away from Damon when little sobs started to escape his mouth.

"Whoa! Hey, Hey, Hey – Stefan, look at me!"

Stefan was starting to panic now. Trying desperately to free himself from Damon's arms.

"Stef, Stef – calm down. It's alright," he held his brother closer, "Please don't cry. You know how I get when you cry. I can't…" He looks down at Stefan, "Shhhh. I gotch ya. I'm here for you, little brother."

Stefan nuzzled his head onto Damon's shoulder. His crying stopped, only left to sniffles. After about 10 more minutes, the only thing that can be heard was the soft breathing of a sleeping Stefan. Damon placed his little brother on the sofa and pulled a blanket over him.

Damon was lost in thought. He whispered softly to his brother, "You were trying to say 'Damon', huh?"

He patted Stefan's back lightly, "Don't worry, Stef. I'll fix this. I promise."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for all the reviews and favorites! I give you chapter 2

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><p>Elena returned to the Salvatore brothers later that day. Shopping bags full of things for Stefan and a suitcase packed for herself. She entered the parlor to find Stefan sound asleep on the couch and Damon waiting impatiently in the chair beside him.<p>

"Took you long enough. Too many styles at Baby Gap to make a decision?"

"We all can't move at super speed," Elena said as she handed the shopping bags over to Damon, "Help get him dressed. I'm going to go make a few phone calls. Hopefully we can get out of town, fix Stefan, and come back without anyone finding out."

"Do what must be done," Damon accepted the bags and headed back to Stefan. He shook his slightly, no wanting to startle the poor little guy.

"Hey Stef, wake up," Stefan began to stir. He opened his sleepy eyes and looked up at his big brother. "Hey, Elena bought you some clothes. We need to leave as soon as possible. So to make haste, I'm going to just dress you myself. Cool?"

Stefan looked at Damon with displeasure in his eyes.

"Come on, Stef. It's nothing I haven't seen before. We just need to get going and it will be faster if I do it. "

Stefan stared at Damon for another few seconds then nodded.

"All right," Damon started to shuffled through the bag, "we'll go with the first thing we see…..ok the winner is Winnie the Pooh footie pajama's with a hood. Perfect! Now to see what we're wearing underneath…..huggies!"

Stefan gave Damon another look. Clearly not onboard with this decision.

"Don't look at me. Elena bought them and to be honest, it's not a bad idea. We have no clue what's going on with your body, Stefan. I'm not risking the interior of my car because you're a little embarrassed to wear a diaper."

Stefan sunk at that comment. His face softened as he turned his gaze from Damon. A sign of giving in. Damon quickly got him dressed then he lifted him into his arms. He kissed the top of his baby bother's head and whisper softly, "Please bear with me for now, Stefan. This is only for awhile."

Stefan sadly sniffed and nodded. Still look away from his brother. Damon grabbed the duffel he packed for himself earlier, the rest of Stefan's new clothes and headed out to the car. Elena was already off the phone and setting up a car seat in the car.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Damon yelled, "We're not taking your car."

"Oh yes we are. My car has more space."

"My car has more style."

"Stefan needs to be in this car seat to be safe. Sorry, Damon, safety and space trump style." Elena turns back to getting the seat hooked up. Knowing full well she won this round.

"Whatever. Let's get going," He passes Stefan over to Elena, "Strap him down and get in. It might be you car but I'm still driving. Keys."

Elena takes Stefan and hands the keys over. "Hey, Stefan," She gives him a small smile, "You doing good?"

He returns the smile and nods.

"Good. I'm going to strap you into this car seat from when Jeremy and I were little. It will keep you safe, okay."

"Can't have you bouncing around the interior, Stefan," Damon said, "No puppy faces."

Stefan nodded and Elena buckled him in. She took her place in the passenger seat. "So…. where are we going?"

Damon turns to Elena and grins, "Philadelphia: City of Brotherly Love."

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><p>AN: This chapter is a little short this time but I'll make it up by posting chapter 3 tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry again for this being late! Here I present Chapter 3! Enjoy

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><p>- 4 Hours Into The Trip –<p>

"Damon, I think we should pull in for the night. There is a motel up ahead." Said Elena pointing to a sign off the road.

"What? We haven't even been on the road that long. "

"Yeah, but look at Stefan. He is exhausted." They both turn to see a conked out Stefan. Damon paused before saying, "Alright, fine. I could use break anyway."

They pulled into a Motel 8 right off the road. They decide on two adjoining rooms.

Damon was setting up the travel crib Elena had packed. Standing in the doorway between the two rooms, she looked at both Stefan and Damon with a smile. Stefan was curled up on the double bed. Damon was intermittently looking over his shoulder while putting on the finishing touches to the crib.

"It's really sweet," Elena spoke up.

Damon looked up at her. One eyebrow rose. "What are you talking about?"

"It's really sweet the way you've been constantly keeping an eye on him this entire trip. The whole time in the car you would look in the rearview mirror every 5 minutes to make sure he was ok."

"Whatever." Damon responds.

"You know, Damon, It's okay to worry about someone. It okay to care, to feel."

"According to you Elena, I don't 'feel'. So I might as well live up to that standard."

"Doing a pretty crappy job of that so far."

Damon just gives her a glare.

"Are you sure you're fine with watching Stefan yourself?" Elena asked. Trying to change the subject, "You've been taking care of him all day. I can keep on eye on him for the night."

"It's fine," he responded. Eyes becoming soft, "I don't mind."

"Okay." She gave him a smile. "Night guys."

"Night" came a small squeak from the bed. They both turn to see Stefan sitting up, his free hand rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Stef, you're talking!" exclaimed Damon as he moved towards the bed to kneel next to his brother. "Can you say anything else?"

Stefan sat there looking up at Damon with tired eyes. "mmmmm….day…..monnnn." He stopped. After moment of hesitation, he reached his arms up towards his big brother and said, "Damon, shleepy." Damon lifted his brother up and Stefan rested his head on Damon shoulder.

"I guess that's Baby Stefan talk for 'Help me to bed, Damon. Now!'."

"You make him sound so demanding."

"Well, I didn't hear a please."

"Hungwee," came another sqeak from Stefan. He lifted his head from Damon to look at both Damon and Elena with pleading eyes.

"You hungry, Stef?" said Damon and he reached for his duffle to pull out a water bottle of blood. "Drink up."

Stefan looks at the bottle and then looks back at Damon. "Nooo…," he says shaking his head.

"Are sure, Stefan. It's your favorite – Bambi."

Stefan just looks down at floor while continuing to shake his head.

"Damon, do you think…..maybe….in this form…body….he's not a vampire?..."

"I dunno. This could be apart of the curse."

"Hang on a sec." Elena rushed back to her room and returns moments later with a sippy cup. "Here, Stefan. Do you want some juice?"

Stefan gives Elena a shy smile and accepts the cup. He lays his head back on Damon's shoulder while drinking the cup from the side.

"Here. I also these snacks for him."

"You really thought of everything, didn't you?"

"After all this time, I've come to expect everything. Here. Feed him. Put him to bed. We've get long day ahead of us tomorrow. Night, Damon." She turns and closes the door behind her.

Damon stares at the door before turning his attention back to Stefan, who was already munching down on the snacks.

"You finish your dinner, Stef. I'm going to take a quick shower before bed." He set Stefan down on the bed and walked into the bathroom. When he retuned 10 minutes later, he found Stefan passed out again. He lifted his little brother off the bed and into the travel crib.

"Goodnight, baby brother," he whispered. He crawled into his own bed and was relieved the call it a night.

Late in the night, a small cry woke Damon. His eyes opened on the alarm clock standing on the dresser. 1:15. He had only been asleep for 3 hours. He turned his head to see Stefan standing up in the travel crib making whiny noises at Damon.

"Go back to sleep. I don't have time for this, Stefan." He turned over with his back facing his brother. Not 2 minutes later, he heard a crash. He turned to see that the crib had tipped over and a now sobbing Stefan was on the floor.

"Shhhhhh, brother, Shhhh," he said and he tried to calm him brother. He must have rocked the crib trying to get out and pushed too hard. Stefan continued to cry even with Damon there to comfort him.

He went over to the bag of things for Stefan that Elena bought. Maybe there was something to help calm him down. He searched the bag to find a packaged pacifier. He stared at it for a second before thinking, _might as well_.

Stefan accepted the pacifier and he started to calm down.

_Wow, that actually worked_ Damon thought.

Stefan was stated to fall back to sleep so Damon thought this was the perfect opportunity to place him back in the crib. Only Stefan wouldn't let up on the death grip he had on Damon's shirt.

"Guess you're sleeping with me tonight, you little monster."

He got under the covers and held Stefan close. Stefan finally eased up on Damon's shirt and settled into his brother hold. It was a closeness that neither of the brothers had felt in a long time.

TBC

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><p>Hope you enjoyed Chapter 3. I'll try to get Chapter 4 up soon<p> 


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